“And above all, watch with glittering eyes the whole world around you because the greatest secrets are always hidden in the most unlikely places."― Roald Dahl

The Riddle of Princess Sophia

In a kingdom where magic is banished, one clever princess is determined to find a way to bring it back. Can a riddle, a shepherd, and a quest be the answer? Prologue to Three Floating Coffins.

Once upon a time, in the Kingdom of the Seven Isles, a hard-hearted king sought to rid the land of magic. He spent the days of his youth scouring his kingdom, killing those who knew of it, even turning against his own brothers and sisters (for in those days, every member of the royal family was a sorcerer by nature). At last content that his work was done, the king settled down to enjoy his twilight years.

Now the king had a daughter who had come to him late in life, Princess Sophia, his sole heir and joy. Her eyes were as blue as the summer waves, her hair shone like polished oak, and her gentle smile caused even the most grizzled soldier to break into a toothsome grin. Aside from this, Princess Sophia was also intelligent and curious. She spent many days hunting the castle for books and many nights listening to the oldest servants whisper of times long past.

“Father,” she asked one day, “is it true that our ancestors used to wield great magic; indeed, even you? Why have I never seen you use this magic? And when will I come into magic of my own?”

The king’s face bloated with rage.

“Who has told you these things?” he demanded.

The little child trembled. “I-I read it in the green book that sits on the highest shelf in the library.”

Immediately, the king ordered the book be taken outside and burned. As Sophia watched sparks erupt from the cover and the paper wither into ash, she cried bitter tears.

“Why did you do that?” she asked her father. “Why do you hate magic?”

“Magic is evil,” the king replied in a cold voice. “The last of it shall die with me. Now forget you ever knew of it, and be happy, my daughter.”

But Princess Sophia could not forget. Magic was beauty and magic was power; she did not believe it was evil, except that the hearts of men made it so. She swore that one day she would restore magic to the land. But she shut her mouth and uttered no word of it to the king.

Day by day, the princess grew in beauty and wisdom, and soon it came time for her to take a husband. The king, who cherished his daughter, was loathe to give her away, declaring one suitor too poor, one too stingy, one too cowardly. Princess Sophia spied an opportunity to keep her secret vow.

“Father,” she said, “I agree with you that the man who marries me must be of the highest quality. Therefore I offer this proposal: that no man shall marry me, but he who brings me a trinket worth all of the Seven Isles that can fit in the palm of my hand.”

The king was pleased with his daughter’s cleverness.

“Let it be so,” he said.

Word spread, and soon kings and princes and merchant-barons and treasure hunters flocked to King’s Isle to present their most precious baubles to the princess. But Princess Sophia rejected them all.

“Your gift is costly,” she said to each, “but it will not buy a kingdom.”

Now it happened that, less than a day’s sail away, a shepherd by the name of Eustachius lived on Olive Isle. Though born of noble blood, Eustachius’ family had lost their title, and he and his older brothers made a living off the sweat of their brow. Still, Eustachius was a brave, cheerful man for whom life held no bitterness.

“I will solve the riddle,” he told his brothers, “for I am determined to marry the princess.”

“You cannot hope to answer it yourself,” said the middle brother.

“The red witch will help you,” said the oldest.

Although the king had tried to eliminate all those who knew the secrets of magic, one had escaped his wrath. Robed in the rags of a beggar, the red witch lived quietly under a bridge in the Isle of Wine. Eustachius sought her advice.

“Do you know the answer to the princess’ riddle?” he asked.

“Go to the Isle of Darkness,” the red witch said. “A creature of the king’s own making has swallowed the most precious magic of all. Slay the beast. Remove the magic from its belly, and Princess Sophia will give you her hand in marriage.”

“I will do as you say,” Eustachius said.

“Wait,” the red witch cried. “This creature is strong in magic. No ordinary blade will pierce its hide. Take this.”

The red witch held out a long sword with a broad straight blade made of gleaming iron.

“The Blade of Negation will aid you on your quest.”

Eustachius accepted the sword. He set out for the Isle of Darkness, and his two older brothers joined him.

Mystery has always shrouded the Isle of Darkness. Those who stumble upon it, either quickly turn away in fright or else step foot on land or are never seen again. But Eustachius and his brothers were not discouraged.

What horrors they saw, what creature they met, what bloody battle ensued, what valiant deeds were done, what sacrifices made--these things, no one knows, for Eustachius would not speak of it. All that is known for sure is that three brothers left for the Isle of Darkness, but only one ever returned.

After departing the Isle of Darkness, Eustachius sailed straight for the castle. He thundered into the halls, his sword in his belt, a box in his hand.

“I have brought a gift for the princess.”

“Let me see it,” said the king.

“I will present it to her alone.”

The king summoned his daughter. The sight of her beauty stung Eustachius through the heart.

“Princess,” he said softly, “I have solved your riddle.”

He opened the box and lifted out a blue amulet on a gold chain. At a glance, it seemed a plain trinket, something a peasant might buy to ward off evil spirits. But as he placed it gently in the princess’ palm, the amulet burst into light, glowing as radiant as a fallen star.

Sophia looked at Eustachius with tears in her eyes.

“You did it,” she whispered. “You brought back magic.”

“Magic!” bellowed the king. “No! I will have no magic in my land. Guards, seize him!”

But Sophia acted first. She took her shepherd champion by the hand, and the two of them fled down the hallway. The guards followed them around a corner and came to an abrupt halt. Princess and shepherd had vanished. They were nowhere to be seen.

“My own daughter defies me,” the king raged. “So be it. You will see the evil that magic can do.”

And he called forth his own store of magic and created monsters, each one darker than the next. He stitched tiger claw and horse hoof and wolf nose and falcon wing together, and unleashed these unfathomable horrors upon the isles.

Eustachius slew them with the Blade of Negation. But the beasts terrified those who would help the princess, and the king’s guards followed the trail of screams. Sophia and Eustachius were driven from one isle, and then another, and another, until at last, they had nowhere to go but the Isle of Lost Souls, a barren clump of rock where nothing grows or lives. Three took shelter there: Sophia, Eustachius, and the princess’ most loyal servant.

Against these three, the king sent his navy. The crown jewel of the fleet was a massive black warship drawn by hundreds of oars and crimson triangular sails. As the king stood on deck and stared at the Isle of Lost Souls, he noticed a golden speck on the sky’s blue horizon. The speck drew closer, and men began to scream.

“Dragon! Dragon!”

The golden dragon had the muscular body of a snake and shimmering bat wings. Archers drew their bows and fired arrows enough to blacken the sky, but none could pierce the dragon’s scales, which were harder than any armor. The king glared at the dragon in hatred, then suddenly grew pale.

“Stop, stop!” he shouted to the archers. “My daughter is riding the dragon!”

Indeed, Princess Sophia clung to the dragon’s back, the wind whipping her veil and hair in all directions. The dragon landed on the deck. Princess Sophia stepped up to the king and looked him in the eye.

“Father,” she said, “I’ve come to offer you a truce. At your command, my future husband and I will leave the kingdom and never return. But you must turn back now and leave us alone. If you do not, you will surely be destroyed.”

“Are you threatening me?”

“I am only speaking the truth. Turn back or die.”

The king looked at the princess with flint in his eyes. “While you possess magic, you are no longer my daughter. If you do not surrender now, you will die.”

He signaled his archers.

The dragon roared so loud the planks shook, and the archers quivered in fear. Princess Sophia jumped onto its back, and the dragon flew her back safely to the Isle of Lost Souls.

That night a terrible storm came. The winds snarled like angry lions and white lightning cracked the sky. Giant waves tossed the warship like a child tosses an egg, and the black ship smashed into a thousand pieces. Many men perished, and more would have died, but for the golden dragon that dove beneath the waves to rescue them. But the dragon did not reach the king in time, who tangled in a net and drowned.

The soldiers and the sailors who remained pledged their loyalty to Princess Sophia and her shepherd champion. She and Eustachius returned to King’s Isle, and preparations were made for a royal wedding.

And so would end this tale, except for one last strange occurrence.

Princess Sophia disappeared. For three days, no one could find her, not her guards, or her maids, or her groom. Then suddenly, on the day of her wedding, she re-emerged from her room, dressed and beaming, as though nothing had happened. But all those who witnessed her wedding noticed that no amulet hung around her neck.

Queen Sophia and King Eustachius ruled the Seven Isles together, and while they lived, they were happy. But the amulet of magic was never seen again. Rumor has it, the queen hid it somewhere in the Seven Isles, and there it waits for a worthy successor to retrieve it once more. But as to where she hid the amulet or why--that no one knows, for that is the final riddle of Queen Sophia.

I wrote Three Floating Coffins primarily from the perspective of Princess Odele, the youngest daughter of Queen Sophia and King Eustachius. At the start of the novel, her mother is dead and her father, acting on the advice of a dubious priest, casts Odele and her two older sister into the sea in three floating coffins. Supposedly, one of the princesses possesses a magic that will destroy the kingdom; that princess will sink, but the two innocent ones will return safely to shore.

Odele alone knows the priest is lying. In order to save her family and her kingdom, she undergoes a quest to discover the truth about magic. Growing up, Odele would have heard tales from the servants about her parents, similar to "The Riddle of Princess Sophia." But the servants don't know the whole tale, and she's about to learn, her family history is a lot more complicated than it seems.